Take Yapta with a dose of salt

[FlyerTalker]

I would suggest that you take Yapta and other "automated" websites with a healthy grain of salt. I plugged in a recently purchased trip on CO, just to see how it performs. Already, it's told me that the fare went up by close to $200. Thinking this a bit strange, I went to the CO website to duplicate my booking and found that seats in the same fare class and flights were still available, though the price had gone up by $20; not almost 10x that difference. Thinking it might be a one-off glitch, I forced another price check on Yapta, with the same results.

 

I'll be testing other flights as I book them, but my recommendation is to always do "primary research" to know what's truly happening. Of course, YMMV.

[Globaliser]

I wonder whether Yapta is a live screen-scraper, or whether it queries the websites and caches the information short-term, so that you're not quite getting live information.

 

If you go to a site like Skyscanner, at least it has the decency to tell you how old the quote is - and do a live screen-scrape on request!

[parody]

I would suggest that you take Yapta and other "automated" websites with a healthy grain of salt.

 

Since yapta is barely out of beta and is still evolving, could you email them (info@yapta.com) what you have observed and report back on the results?

[greatam]

Since yapta is barely out of beta and is still evolving, could you email them (info@yapta.com) what you have observed and report back on the results?

 

IMHO, Yapta is very deceiving. Their main marketing ploy is REFUNDS. It can't be "cheapest price" (even though they try to make it appear that way), because the "cheapest price" may be very limited in availability. And if you wait for the magic of Yapta for price reductions, you MAY see nothing but price increases (much like pax that wait for SW to release prices-they are often higher than airfares 2/3 months prior on the legacy carriers)

 

On the "about us" page-"Already purchased a ticket? You may qualify for vouchers or refunds!

Guaranteed Airfare Rules entitle you to rebook if a lower fare is available - you get the difference as a credit for future travel. Simply add your ticket information. Yapta will email you if the price drops below what you paid, making you eligible for a voucher or refund from the airline."

 

False info-you are not "eligible for a voucher or refund from the airline" without quite a bit of work which is NOT displayed (hidden in the "fine print"). The website makes it appear that you get the credit or refund for even a very small drop in price.

 

Yes you MAY get a credit. But it will most likely cost you the change fee. So the lower price has to be SUBSTANTIAL to offset the change fee. And if you are not a frequent traveler, how in the heck are you going to use the voucher???

 

Yapta may have started out as a good idea. I feel it is sadly lacking. JMHO

[FlyerTalker]

Since yapta is barely out of beta and is still evolving, could you email them (info@yapta.com) what you have observed and report back on the results?

Already done - no response as of yet. Will post to this thread if I hear anything back.

[parody]

Yes you MAY get a credit. But it will most likely cost you the change fee.

 

Based on ticket sale data for domestic trips made by the top 10 carriers for the first 8 months on 2007, I have estimated that if a fare goes down a person can get a no-cost refund or voucher 43% of the time.

[elpecoro]

greatam - I have to disagree with your earlier statement:

 

"False info-you are not 'eligible for a voucher or refund from the airline' without quite a bit of work which is NOT displayed (hidden in the "fine print"). The website makes it appear that you get the credit or refund for even a very small drop in price.

 

Yes you MAY get a credit. But it will most likely cost you the change fee. So the lower price has to be SUBSTANTIAL to offset the change fee. And if you are not a frequent traveler, how in the heck are you going to use the voucher???"

 

1. Yapta's alerts are always NET of any airline change fee - so they're only alerting you when you have money (or value in the form of a voucher) on the table.

 

2. Even if you are not a frequent traveler, it only takes one trip to use a voucher - so even if you fly only once per year, it's still worth having.

 

3. Yapta does work. I've received $105 worth of travel credits on Alaska Airlines in my first attempt using the service. Meanwhile, my father has received $200 in vouchers from United Airlines. If you haven't used the service with any success yet, I'd suggest you keep an open mind and try it again. I'm living proof that there's value that the service delivers.

[FlyerTalker]

Still no response from Yapta -- and they are now saying my flights will cost over $996!! I checked the CO website and I could buy paid first class for less than what Yapta says my coach ticket would cost.

[greatam]

greatam - I have to disagree with your earlier statement:

 

"False info-you are not 'eligible for a voucher or refund from the airline' without quite a bit of work which is NOT displayed (hidden in the "fine print"). The website makes it appear that you get the credit or refund for even a very small drop in price.

 

Yes you MAY get a credit. But it will most likely cost you the change fee. So the lower price has to be SUBSTANTIAL to offset the change fee. And if you are not a frequent traveler, how in the heck are you going to use the voucher???"

 

1. Yapta's alerts are always NET of any airline change fee - so they're only alerting you when you have money (or value in the form of a voucher) on the table.

 

2. Even if you are not a frequent traveler, it only takes one trip to use a voucher - so even if you fly only once per year, it's still worth having.

 

3. Yapta does work. I've received $105 worth of travel credits on Alaska Airlines in my first attempt using the service. Meanwhile, my father has received $200 in vouchers from United Airlines. If you haven't used the service with any success yet, I'd suggest you keep an open mind and try it again. I'm living proof that there's value that the service delivers.

 

Thank you. You just proved my point in the first lines of my post: "IMHO, Yapta is very deceiving. Their main marketing ploy is REFUNDS."

 

OBVIOUSLY, if you got a refund/travel voucher, you didn't get the lowest price to begin with (which is part of Yapta's premise).

 

I'm glad you got refunds. However, if the vouchers are standard vouchers, they are only good for one year FROM the date of BOOKING. So if you book air far in advance, you will have to use the voucher for another trip either before the trip you originally booked or right after it. Again, I would bet that a lot of vouchers will go to waste.

 

Yapta missed all the South America fare sales on AA. And the Phoenix sale fares (I have a whole bunch of tickets already booked). I don't have a lot of faith in the technology.

[stratixman]

Its not just Yapta. Having used all the major airfare search sites I have concluded that one should not place a lot of confifdence in their results. I have found far too many inaccuracies and inconsistencies when pricing exact same flight itineraries. The fact that two, three, or even more 2nd party search sites report the same fare configurations doesn't necessarily mean their prices are correct. Often times it simply means that they are all reporting bad numbers.

 

I use those sites for only preliminary recon and always go directly to the airlines' own sites to complete my pricing research. I can't remember the last time I booked airfare through anyone but the airline directly. I think it was about 7 0r 8 years ago - which goes to show that the automated fare engines haven't particularly improved their tech - unless that is if one thinks that getting automated email updates of inaccurate fares when they change is an improvement.

 

I still find the best prices and find the most flexibility in picking flight segments directly with the airline. Just means I have to spend a bit more time manually sifting through their schedules. The major issue I have with the airlines is the frequency with which they jump their fares around. Not only do they bounce their fares around from day to day but I have experienced instances where their fares have changed multiple times up and down on the same day within a matter of hours. Maybe that partly explains why the 2nd party sites are so frequently wrong in their prices.

[parody]

I use those sites for only preliminary recon and always go directly to the airlines' own sites to complete my pricing research.

 

Generally, very good advice. But, if you want to know the reasoning behind this statement: "Northwest Airlines' web site will not necessarily give the lowest prices they offer.", go here.

[derrick22]

I have spend months watching for airfare using all the search engines and different sites. I think they all lie.

 

For three weeks straight every day I checked a site and got the same price for airfare. The day I go to book I am told the airfare is $250 more than what is advertised. I questioned it and was told the fare went up.

 

Guess what? The same site is still advertising the same low fare.

 

I also can't stand the sites that don't tell you the fees up front. Just tell me the total so I can compare.

 

I finally got tired of searching and bought airfare. I spent way too much time and energy searching for air.

 

Denise

[FlyerTalker]

An airline's own website uses real-time data from their res system servers. Many of the "travel sites" or "search sites" use cached data retrieved from GDS systems on a schedule - it is NOT real-time until you progress to actually booking the flight, when it queries the GDS for current availability and pricing.

 

All the more reason to take search-sites with some wariness. The info you get is only as good as the info they might have to work with, and if it is hours old, you run the risk it being flat out wrong.

 

Sure, going to individual airline sites takes more time and work. Will you get more accurate information - I'd say yes. Remember, there is no one "best" site, nor anyplace that will always show you the best pricing.

 

You didn't mention if this site was an airline or a search site or a travel site. My bet is a search site.

[parody]

Many of the "travel sites" or "search sites" use cached data retrieved from GDS systems on a schedule - it is NOT real-time

 

This is very perceptive and such a statement or philosophy, while true, is hardly ever stated on such sites. For example, Yapta.com, which I wouldn't use for searching, does fare updating on a four times a day schedule. Good luck in trying to find this information on a FAQ page for any of the popular search sites. This certainly highlights derrick22's sentiment that "they all lie".